Best Maker — Curated from The Hiro Report

The absolute no-brainer best way to get someone started with 3D printing. And it is currently back down to its pre-tariff pricing of $199. $$$

This little hacker multi-tool makes a great gift precisely because it’s the kind of thing it really doesn’t make sense for most of us to buy for ourselves… but it’s a lot of fun to play with. $$$$

Hoto is one of my favorite tool companies—all of their products that I own look great and function impeccably. So, I'm kind of geeking out to try their new electric scissors. Here's the catch: I don't know what I'd use them for... I could see maybe getting into cardboard craft projects at some point, but I feel like I need a lot more time first. Anyone have any recommendations?

My friends over at TRMNL have opened pre-orders for a new, much larger version of their fantastic, DIY-friendly, e-ink platform. The TRMNL X rocks a 10.3" display with more shades of gray, a higher resolution, and a faster refresh rate. It also has a magnetic back mount, a waterproof case, and touch controls. It will still work with their awesome, community-driven library of plugins and integrations with various web services and information sources. Full disclosure: TRMNL has sponsored previous issues of the Hiro Report, but this is not sponsored—I'm just stoked about the new release and have already put in my pre-order.

I am kind of obsessed with this, and if it weren’t for the 90-day backorder, I would probably jump on one right away. These are incredibly small, functioning replicas of the original Apple Macintosh 128k. They use a pico zero microcontroller to power a two-inch LCD screen with a custom-designed PCB to give you a ~2.5in / 62mm tall vintage Mac replica. You can run it with an internal battery or plugged in, and you can attach a full-size keyboard and mouse to put it through its paces.

OK, yes, they’re sponsoring this issue, but I’d be putting the TRMNL on the list anyway—it’s that fun… Please don’t tell the guys at TRMNL. ~$130 with discount code: hiroreport

- I've written before about my love for Hoto's stuff. They make thoughtful, beautifully designed tools for home use. They're back with a new version of the awesome Electric Screwdriver set that I use almost daily, now designed for precision screwdriving. This new set is for assembling and disassembling smaller items and electronics, compared to the other set that's more for furniture. Like the older set, this one comes with a nice storage case for all 56 bits... However, unlike the boring grey of the original, this one has a cool pop of color and uses magnets so you can modularly stack it with their other new tool sets. The electric driver supports three speeds with built-in smarts to prevent over-torquing micro screws on your glasses, phone, laptop, etc.

We’ve been happy owners of a Cricut Explore 3 for years, using it for things like cutting fabric for my wife’s quilting to cutting card stock for fun 3d paper projects I build with the kids. Cricut just came out with the 4th generation of the Explore and Maker models that not only bring down the price for both but also increase the cutting speed and precision for most materials. If you’re at all in to crafting type stuff, it’s worth checking them out.

This is a cool little project that builds a framework allowing most Bluetooth devices to be tracked using Apple’s Find My network. Right now, it supports only a few devices, like Raspberry Pi 4s* and the Micro:Bit Go* (a pocket-sized computer for coding, making games, etc.), but with the open-source community involved, I expect more support soon. I’m eager to try it out.

- I discovered these Sharpie alternatives this year and have been super impressed. The black is much blacker than a black Sharpie, and these things can write on anything. If you’re a maker or regularly need to leave really permanent markings on random things, I highly recommend them.

The absolute no-brainer best way to get someone started with 3D printing. And it is on sale right now for $199. $$$

I haven’t gotten my hands on one of these yet, but I fully intend to. It’s a simple, build-it-yourself kit that creates a little LED dot matrix board running retro games like Tetris, Snake, and Space Invaders. I really dig the vintage electronics aesthetic.

This is a fun rabbit hole to dive into. Meshtastic is an open-source, off-grid, decentralized mesh network that runs on low-power devices. Imagine being in Texas during the 2021 winter storms—power’s out, internet’s gone, and cell towers are down. Meshtastic provides a way to still communicate with friends, loved ones, or emergency services. It works over impressively long ranges as long as there are nodes or other users within radio range to relay messages onward. The Heltec V3 is a cheap and pocketable entry point that pairs with your iOS/Android phone via Bluetooth to let you send messages over the mesh network— all without touching the internet or the cellular network.

Speaking of home stuff, this little USB-C rechargeable electric screwdriver set is such a delight. It's got a great, modern, minimal design, it is very ergonomic and powerful enough for the vast majority of the projects I do around the house whether it's building furniture, wall mounting things, etc. It's just one of those little things that sparks joy for me.

This week BambuLab announced the release of the A1 3D Printer, the bigger sister to the A1 Mini that I mentioned a few weeks back. Apart from being easily confused with a steak sauce, and also being a great name for a company that is competing for placement in a phonebook, it looks to be another really great entry point for 3D printing. At just $399 and big enough to print helmets and other fun cosplay props, this honestly gives the A1 Mini ($299) some healthy competition... I'd say which one you go with really would boil down to your intended use case. Here’s a fun Godzilla I made for a friend’s son this week on the BambuLab X1C, which has the same size print bed as the new A1.

I don't have one of these, but I'm really intrigued. In short, it is a small frame you can put over any drawing, take a picture with your iPhone, and the related app will turn the drawing into an editable SVG. Why does that matter? Well, if you have a CNC machine, Cricut or something like it, then you can easily turn a drawing into a cuttable path for turning in to etchings, decals, etc. Neat!

For those with access to a 3D Printer (or an army of 3D Printers), this project is pretty awesome-- It lets you print your own wall-mounted storage system with a rich ecosystem of hundreds of shelves, pen holders, cable organizers, buckets, and more. My printer is cranking out peg boards and screws as I type this.

This 3D printer from Bambu sounds amazing. I know they, er, had some issues last month, and I'm not sure I'd totally trust their cloud services but this price point is unreal for multi-material printing like this. I love my Prusa Mini printer, but if I was in the market, I'd be looking hard at this new Bambu and/or waiting to see how the rest of the market reacts in an effort to compete.